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Not a dove, not a lamb, not a slave, or a church mouse The Bullitts (Ft. Jay Electronica, Lucy Liu & Yasiin Bey) – They Die By Dawn
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Jay Electronica’s good friend, Diddy sums up this advice in two words: NO BITCHASSNESS. Don’t be subservient (slave) or sheepish (lamb) just because you’re on trial. Hold yourself accountable, make eye contact, etc.
The “dove” and “lamb” mentions might allude to Jesus’s title, Lamb of God, and his baptism.
Lamb of God (John 1:29):
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
The dove (Holy Spirit):
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized [by John the Baptist in the River Jordan], went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Doves are commonly used to symbolize peace, while sheep symbolize innocence and obedience.
Alphabet boys out prayin' what they might find Pusha T (Ft. Troy Ave) – Road Runner
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By “white line,” Pusha literally means that they stay on the highway when they’re transporting cocaine.
He might also mean that he and his dopeboys don’t get high off their own supply of cocaine.
As Biggie (who Pusha is known to praise) said:
Never get high on your own supply
Alphabet boys are agents from three-letter acronymed agencies: the FBI, CIA, DHS (Homeland Security), etc. Part of their duty is to go after drug traffickers.
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Since Pusha spells out “kilo” in the background of this line, those are probably the four letters he refers to. He doesn’t give a damn about jail. There’s money to be made.
Pusha’s also playing on “letters” and “sentence”, as in “jail sentence”.
Pusha might also be indicating that he has some dirty cops on the payroll that get his coke through. Which is why he doesn’t worry about getting a jail sentence.
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Pusha with the top down resembles a raisin in the sun; they’re both dark-skinned.
“A raisin in the sun” is a line from Langston Hughes’s poem, “Harlem”, and the title of a play by Lorraine Hansberry.
“Harlem” ponders the outcome of a deferred dream. With “a nigga still black”, Pusha might be responding to it’s line of questioning, meaning that despite his success he is still stigmatized for his race.
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Pusha is the second best rapper ever, after Biggie, of course.
Pusha previously alluded to this on “We Got It For Cheap (Intro)”
I’m the best since he died, and he [not Biggie] lied.
Pusha is the King of the Coke Flow, but Biggie is the King of Hip-hop.
As it should be, connect call and I come runnin'
We ran through the ribbon how we won from it Troy Ave (Ft. Pusha T) – Concrete Jungle
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Since few people (if any) call Pusha’s dealing credentials into question, and that Clipse’s manager, Anthony Gonzalez, was jailed for leading a $10 million drug ring, Pusha’s phone probably was tapped, at one time, at least.
Whenever Pusha’s supplier (connect) has drugs, Pusha is quick to get them. This drive to sell helped him overtake his rivals and win in the race to get dollars
Crack changed the hustle, I seen it reshape Troy Ave (Ft. Pusha T) – Concrete Jungle
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Pusha was born in 1977, before crack cocaine (infamously cheap) was made available. When crack hit the streets, a whole new drug was made to sell in the slums of America, which changed the drug game.
There’s also some wordplay here. Crack is a reshaped form of cocaine powder, just as crack reshaped the narcotic business.
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Queen’s Park is a neigbourhood in northwest London. Jay has been spending a lot of time in London, lately.
“Stopouts”, according to Urban Dictionary, are women who like to party and club.
Queen’s Park is the neigbourhood in northwest London where Jeymes Samuel (The Bullitts hails from). Jay was also staying there working with Jeymes at the time of this recording.